Dutch | Curacaoan

Photo credit: provided by subject

I am a mixed-race young woman, as I am Caribbean, French and Dutch. I wouldn’t consider myself to be a part of any specific religion. I have been raised by my Mother, who is a believer of the Islam. However, my Father is Christian, and I’ve been baptised. Personally, I don’ t identify with any religion at the moment, however, I do believe in a higher power. I’m straight. I do appreciate the female body and other women, though, not in any sexual way. My Mother is from the Netherlands and my Father is from Curacao. I honestly have no clue as to how they met. They split up when I was still very young, and even though they still are in contact because of myself, I never bothered to ask where they met each other.

I was raised by my Mother. My parents were both very young when I was born, my Father younger than my Mom. Him being sixteen at the time caused for him to not be able to raise a kid, seeing as he was a kid himself. My Mother being nineteen at the time was more mature and had wanted a child beforehand. She raised me, however, never excluded my father’s family. They were always welcome to come visit me. This situation did cause me to be raised mainly with my Mother’s religion as a primary source of information.

Interracial relationships are not something that I think about currently, seeing as I find it to be the most normal thing in the world. I have not experienced any judgement in the way I was raised in relation to interracial relationships. My Mother has always been very tolerant towards other cultures, as is most of my family. I do think that when my Mother was younger, the opinion was quite different.

Our Dutch family is quite outspoken when it comes to interracial relationships and prefer to stay within their own race when finding a significant other. I don’ t think my Mother has ever bothered to care for that opinion though. She’s a very powerful woman, with a great sense of open-mindedness towards different ethnicities.

Being a model and having a presence on social media has put me in the limelight of things. My mixed-race appearance, especially my hair, has been something that people admire a lot. As well as me being considered ‘exotic’. This has been something that sets me apart from the general model and allows me to work with certain brands.

When I was younger, I used to be in a school with primarily Dutch upper-class teenagers. Back then I used to think I looked weird and desperately wanted to change my appearance. My hair being the main blockage in my life. I used to straighten it on a daily basis, even though my Mom told me not to do it because it would ruin my hair. I never quite felt like I fit in, and always thought people paid more attention to what I was doing because I was different.

In dating I used to think ‘Ah, I don’t know if he likes mixed girls’, because I would be attracted to men that were mostly Dutch. I never quite felt like they had as much interest in me as they did in girls from their own ethnicity.

Through being myself and accepting myself fully. I think this is one of the most important things ever. Accepting and connecting your culture to your life only happens when you’re satisfied with who you are and what you look like, everything else falls into place naturally.

I haven’t quite yet visited my native countries. My Mother as a single Mom never had the funds or courage to go to my native country just the three of us (my Mother, sister and I). However, I will definitely visit soon.

I definitely think my outlook on my mixed-race identity has changed from being a child to an adult. I always wanted to be the same as everyone else. Now I embrace and am proud of being SO different. I wouldn’t be who I am today if not for the culture that I was raised with and the family that surrounds me. Being an adult and maturing has put things into perspective and allowed me to see myself for the beauty that I am, instead of comparing my beauty to that of others.

Being an entrepreneur I (thankfully) don’ t have to deal with issues in the workplace. In my previous workplaces I have never felt like I was treated differently because of my culture, gender or sexuality. I must say that I’m quite outspoken and never afraid to put someone in their place, so that might have something to do with it.

If I had the opportunity to be reborn I would like to return exactly the same. I love who I am, and I wouldn’t change it for the world.